How to Change Disk Drive Letters

The main reason to change a drive letter on the hard drive is preference. There are a few unique circumstances that will cause the experienced user to allocate a specific drive letter to a hard drive. This is usually because of the replacement of the hard drive or because of previously installed applications that need to be mapped to the installation drive. The changing of the hard drive letter is virtually the same in Windows XP and Windows Vista. The only change is the link in the "Control Panel."

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Click the "Start" button on the taskbar and then click "Control Panel." The "Control Panel" window will appear.

2. Click "Performance and Maintenance," if you are using Windows XP; "System and Maintenance," if you are using Windows Vista.

3. Click "Administrative Tools." A window will open. Double-click "Computer Management," and the "Computer Management" window will open. Select "Disk Management."

4. Right-click the drive you want changed and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths..." from the menu. The "Change Drive Letter and Paths" window will open.

5. Click on the "Change..." button. The "Change Drive Letter or Path" window will appear. The radio button "Assign the following drive letter:" will be selected. A drop-down menu to the right has the letters that are available for you to change your drive to.

6. Select the drive letter you want to change your drive to. Click the "OK" button to close the "Change Drive Letter or Path" window.

7. Click the "Yes" button when you are prompted to confirm the drive letter change. You have successfully changed your drive letter.